‘I am happily keeping this dog and won’t be entertaining this person or the person who claimed to be the owner anymore.’: The uplifting story of a pug rescued from heatstroke and a fake family by caring hooman who nursed the abandoned dog back to health

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Nov 26, 2025 1:00 PM EST

The dumping of dogs is something that is becoming all too common in this world. People at some point and for some reason decide that their doggo is not worth their time or energy anymore and that the best and only thing to do is to abandon the dog in some place. Which is such a simpleminded thing to do as you are essentially saying you wish for this dog to be unalived in a way that does not directly tie back to you. Especially when you have so many rehoming options available to you from dog shelters, to rescues, to even social media.

There are more than enough people who would want to bring a beautiful doggo into their lives. But, alas, this is what happened to the darling doggo in this story who was abandoned on the street and left to hang onto life in the mid summer heat. Thankfully, our heroic rescuer came upon the dog in the nick of time and got straight to doing whatever was possible to help the pupper get back to health. 

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  • 01
    I found a dog about three weeks ago. He was laying in the middle on the sidewalk in the hot sun in front of a house. I asked the people who were
    via DownWithDaThicckness
  • 02
    outside and lived there if it was their dog. They said no, but that he had been there a couple of days and they had been feeding him. I took him in and
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  • 03
    tried taking him to the shelter, but they were all closed (it was July 4 weekend). I took him to a vet and found he was micro chipped. The vet called the chip
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  • 04
    company and got any info she could, and because the shelters were closed, she gave me the info so that I could try contacting the owner myself. I also
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  • 05
    posted on social media, next door, and pawboost, on top of calling the chip company for multiple days after I found him, for which I was told they called
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  • 06
    and emailed every time I called. I even gave them my information so that the owner could contact me. I tried calling the phone number
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  • It is so wonderfully uplifting to know that there are people who care about animals so much that they are willing to take so much time out of their lives to make sure that a lost doggo finds its way home. Such selflessness is seriously rare in this day and age.

  • 07
    pug lying on a couch looking off to the side
    via F8 \ Suport Ukraine via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    registered to the chip for a few days and even texted and got a wrong number response (but only after calling, leaving voicemails, and multiple texts). It
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  • 09
    seemed odd to me especially since he wasn't registered in the same area that I found him in, not even close, had an old and gross harness on with an
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    ESA tag, leading me to believe he was abandoned. Since the shelters were going to be closed for a couple of days, I asked
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  • Jheez, what a heartbreaking moment. To think that this person likely spoke to the dog’s original owners, yet they denied it was them and that they had anything to do with the dog. Could you imagine how sad that would be for a doggo to overhear?

  • 11
    family if they could take him in for me because I have my own dog and wanted to keep them separate for their own health and safety. The dog was
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    found in bad condition, he's a pug, and his eyes were swollen and the folds on his face looked crusty, and he had some skin issues which were due to his harness
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    and having fleas seemed it was never taken off of him, he had a rash on his like armpits and still has indents in his fur from the edges of the harness, it was a
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  • 14
    bit tight on him). I didn't take him to the shelter because my neighbor told me that it can be a hassle to get them back and that you
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    also have to pay a fine. I thought I'd save the owner that hassle. After a week, my family and I grew fond of him, and decided to keep him after all this time of
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    trying to find their owner. We took him to the vet and got him supplies, he's already looking way better than when we found him and doesn't leave my
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    mom's side. it's been three weeks now, and someone on next door is claiming to know the owner and speaking on their behalf. I asked them
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    to provide the chip number and they haven't. They say the owner's phone has been disconnected. They shared a picture of the ESA ID card but I can't verify
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  • 19
    the registration number and the name of the dog is similar but not the same. Also the name of the registered owner on the chip is different from who
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    he's registered to on the ESA ID card. It seems a little sketchy to me (the owner sounds like he may be homeless) and I don't feel comfortable with
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  • 21
    smiling pug lying on the floor looking up
    via Africa Studio via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 22
    just handing over a dog to someone who can't at least provide their chip info/number or even a photo, especially since I found him in bad condition.
    via DownWithDaThicckness
  • 23
    I know that shelters can only hold dogs for maybe a week, probably even less and then they can get adopted. Since it's been weeks, is this dog now mine?
    via DownWithDaThicckness
  • 24
    After calling the chip company multiple times, they told me that I could transfer my info onto the chip after 3 to 4 weeks of no answer from the owner. I
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  • 25
    don't know how else to verify that this dog belongs to this guy who claims to be the owner when he has no phone
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  • 26
    and the person speaking for him can't provide the chip info. What do I do?
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  • 27
    EDIT: I am happily keeping this dog and won't be entertaining this person or the person who claimed to be the owner anymore. My fam and I knew
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  • 28
    we'd keep him after 2-3 days of housing him, if no one would claim him. He almost looks like a different dog from when I found him, he's so much healthier!
    via DownWithDaThicckness
  • 29
    Thank you all for your advice, I feel better in my decision
    via DownWithDaThicckness

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keep dogs pug Heat nurse abandoned dog owner fake hooman reddit story caring uplifting health family dog story happy rescued
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